Monday, 8 September 2014

It’s been a while since my last
update from Rathlin, owing to a lack of visits during the past few months due
to work commitments.Despite not
visiting at all in June or July, I have managed to add 5 species to the year
list in the 5 visits I have managed since my last update.

The first of these was on 11th
May which started off with the second Grey Wagtail of the spring singing from trees above the small
stream In Church Valley. Bird of the day however, was a singing Lesser Whitethroat (95)
above Church Bay – only the 4th island record and the first since 18th
October 2009.Interestingly, this bird
was skulking in the same dense thicket as I saw the last one!This area has also hosted Garden Warbler in
the recent past and regularly gets good numbers of Blackcaps and
Whitethroats.Looks a good bet for a
Barred Warbler one day I reckon.

Here is a sound recording of the
bird taken on my iPhone:

Also new for the year were 3 Mealy Redpolls (96) buzzing around the
same area.There seems to be a pattern
emerging for these on patch, with birds seen annually in late spring, no doubt
en route to breeding grounds much further north. Elsewhere around the patch were:
1 Chiffchaff, 2 Chough, 12 Sedge Warbler, 6 Wheatear, 2 White Wagtail, 1
Wigeon, 10 Whitethroat and 23 Willow Warblers.

For a few weeks in late May this year the answer was yes for all 6 species

Saturday the 24th May
produced a good day total of 66 species, which included my first ever Rathlin Corncrake (97).I sat on a nearby wall listening to its call
as I ate lunch.You could even hear it
from the bar! (Or so I’m told). A Mealy Redpoll was still doing
the rounds in Church Valley and a good variety of other migrants and breeding
species were noted, but included no further year ticks: 2 Chough, 1 Chiffchaff,
2 Blackcap, 1 Dunlin, 1 Goldcrest, 12 Lesser Redpoll, 15 Sedge Warbler, 5
Wheatear, 9 Whitethroat and 25 Willow Warblers were the best of the rest. I was also pleased to see that the
patch Lapwing nested in a single
colony this year.Most of the 7 pairs
present were guarding young during this visit.

The Corncrake was still present
and singing away on 31st May, but as many of you will know, it
wasn’t seen or heard of after this date thanks to a private helicopter landing
in its preferred field.You can read
more about this story here.Good numbers
of common migrants were still on the move with day totals of 10 Sedge Warbler,
2 Blackcap, 12 Whitethroat and 21 Willow Warblers.

A couple of images from the Maritime Festival in late May

My next visit wasn’t until 1st
August, when the only new bird for the year was a Kestrel (98).Other early
autumn migrants included over 100 House Martins above Church Bay and a flock of
over 250 birds behind Mill Bay which included 100+ Linnets, 20 Lesser Redpolls,
many Meadow Pipits and at least 2 Twite.

My latest visit took place on 6th
September when I recorded my 144th patch species in the form of a Bar-tailed Godwit (99)
in Mill Bay.A high count of 17 Dunlin here
had me on high alert for a Curlew Sand or Little Stint, but sadly not this
time. A couple of White Wagtails were scant
consolation.

As there was a decent northerly
breeze blowing, I spent some time around the Coastguard’s Hut hoping for a
Lapland Bunting or Golden Plover on land, or some Brent Geese or a skua at
sea.However, the best on offer was a flock
of 12 Snipe flying overhead, a few Skylarks on land and a handful of Manx Shearwaters
offshore.Elsewhere, good numbers of
Swallows and House Martins were resting up on wires or feeding around the West
Pier.The gardens here had a few
Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff.Several
Blackcaps were in the “Lesser Whitethroat” thicket.

In other news, the pair of Chough
successfully fledged 3 young and the Great Skua pair were also successful this
year. Though somehow the latter have
evaded my year list thus far!A pair of Whinchats
were also confirmed breeding in the middle section of the island.I also received news of a Red Kite which I
missed earlier in the year.

Scores – 99 species, 123 points or 81.5%

By this stage last year I was on
112 species, so I’d better hope for an improved late autumn period this year to
make up for it.